Moving three times in nine months wasn’t easy, but it has put The Tap Room in a better position.

Chef Shane Cassidy begins ticking off the benefits of the new Hestan cooking suite that fills part of the kitchen with dutiful stainless steel – burners, ovens, planchas, pasta wells and other culinary tools. But soon he is drawn to a sleek stand with a modern touch screen. With a few quick taps, the programmed Rational 1 Combi Pro unit can go from souffle to simple roast to barbecue.

Through the entire demonstration, Cassidy never stops beaming.

“It’s functional,” he says of the kitchen, as if surprised. “It’s so great. Now we have all the power that we need.”

Power, in the chef’s definition, is not associated with strength. Rather, it is related to the kitchen’s ability to serve at a high level of quality and efficiency. And the smile is one of a man skilled in all ways of contending, driven time and again off course.

The Tap Room has been on a bit of an odyssey lately. In February, when The Lodge at Pebble Beach closed for its first major renovation in over 100 years, the Pebble Beach Company shut down Stillwater, The Bench and the Terrace Lounge – the latter two temporarily, Stillwater for the duration. They chose to keep The Tap Room in operation, wedging the popular restaurant into the nearby Fairway One space.

But Ferrari had already booked the banquet facility for Car Week. So in August, The Tap Room moved again, this time fitting into the Terrace Lounge.

“This is the third opening we’ve had in the last nine months,” Cassidy observes. “I applaud the team. The team deserves this upgrade.”

The Tap Room reopened in October, finally back in its original location. While there are some additions – prime porterhouse, banana bread pudding – the menu is familiar, as is the room. Apart from some new memorabilia on the walls, it retains the same, comfortable clubhouse vibe.

“It’s important not to re-brand,” the chef says, adding that the history and prominence of the restaurant is a responsibility not taken lightly at Pebble Beach. “We spent more time and money on unseen areas.”

The most significant changes are in the kitchen, which expanded from just six burners to 22, as well as updates behind the ceiling and the walls. Sound-deadening material has transformed the once-cacophonous bar and dining room into a place for conversation.

“That’s the biggest compliment, when people say, ‘What did you do?’” Bryan Anthony, Pebble Beach’s vice president of food and beverage, acknowledges.

Even two weeks after its October reopening, the excitement shared by chef and restaurant staff was almost palpable. But as in Homer’s classic tale, the odyssey proved challenging.

“Pebble Beach Company knew they needed to revamp Stillwater,” Cassidy says. “[Staying open] was a big risk to take. We didn’t have the same atmosphere.”

The move to Fairway One and its limited kitchen forced Cassidy to cut a third of the menu. Gone were favorite comforts, such as the prime rib chili. The space also felt dramatically different. For an ambitious team, the initial sortie was frustrating.

“In that moment, it was not about exceeding expectations, it was about meeting expectations,” Cassidy admits. “All the muscle memory went out the door.” By the time they transferred everything over to the Terrace Lounge, however, “We were playing an endurance game.”

Yet the chef also recognizes some benefits of the journeys. Apart from a kitchen that exceeds his dreams, Cassidy points out that the burdens over the past nine months created even stronger bonds among the staff.

“Some of my team might not have recognized that [at the time],” he says. “But it made everyone better, more cohesive. They rose to the occasion.”

In Cassidy’s smile, there is also a realization. The previous kitchen was just keeping up with The Tap Room’s role in the minds of guests, with changing demands and growing expectations.

“Now we’re able to do whatever we need to do,” he says. “Now we’re poised for the future. For the last nine months we’ve been eating our vegetables. Now we can have cake.”

THE TAP ROOM, 1700 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach. (800) 877-0597, pebblebeach.com